Strengthen left hand

[lizbizz]

I'm trying to learn the Chopin's Revolutionary etude and the left hand is SO daunting and my left hand is significantly weaker than my right.

It doesn't help that I haven't touched a piano for the past five years due to going to university and everything and now I'm just getting back into it. Anyone have some tips on what I can do to strengthen it? For example, any particular exercises etc? Or should I just get right down to it and practice the piece itself? Appegios? 

My level of play before I stopped was at the ABRSM diploma level (not sure if people are familiar with that on this forum) but my teacher chose pieces that didn't deal with the problem with my weak left hand in order to help me pass the exam easier.. but in hindsight I should have probably just dealt with it then because now I want to play the Revolutionary etude and I feel like I can't!

[brogers70]

My teacher just assigned me this set of exercises and studies for the left hand.

https://imslp.org/wiki/Die_Pflege_der_linken_Hand,_Op.89_%28Berens,_Hermann%29

You might also try playing the Bach cello suites with your left hand. They work pretty well as left hand exercises, too.

[faulty_damper]

What exactly do you mean by weak?  The revolutionary is considered one of Chopin's easy studies.  It's easy if you have the right technique.  It's hard if you use the wrong one.  If you are using the wrong one, then it won't matter how much strength you have or need.

If you could describe exactly what you mean by weak, we may be better able to help you.

[mikeowski]

i don't think very highly about these excercise sets, they just seem boring as hell and often don't have anything going for them musically. Also, when you're finished you have nothing to show for it. ("Hey look I can play these tedious excercises! They don't sound great but it sure was a lot of work. Wanna listen?")  Just play something by Bach, inventions, sinfonias, suites, partitas, (little) preludes, fugues, whatever, you can't go wrong with Bach. And also you can start with the chopin, just take it slowly and try to play everything correctly from the first bar. If you find it too hard, learn something else, as easy as that. You should always try to get a feel for a pieces' difficulty first hand imo.

EXAMPLE: I tried learning La campanella after playing around half a year maybe. I couldn't even read music and copied the notes from a youtube midi-file tutorial..Of course it turned out to be way way too hard. But I did take a lot of time with the first section of the huge jumps and after I dropped the piece, what I got out of that was a great rotation technique in my right hand, which I didn't realize as of lately, until my piano teacher pointed it out when I was playing the prelude from BWV 862 during the lesson. (short passage from measure 15 to 16, something Bach uses a lot) Nothing hard, but apparently I played it with a very nice technique, acquired when playing a piece that was and probably still is out of my league.
So really, what I wanna say is, go for it, but take things slowly and carefully and try to play everything right every time. And play Bach. More Bach. That counts for anyone reading this really, me included.

[outin]

And play Bach. More Bach. That counts for anyone reading this really, me included.

I am soon going to complain to Pianostreet establishment about harrasment!  

I have this collection, it has real music, also some very advanced:
Raymond Lewenthal: Piano Music for One Hand: A Collection of Studies, Exercises and Pieces

[natalyaturetskii]

You might want to try some Czerny, it can be really  helpful.

Natalya

[lelle]

all the necessary strength to play the piano is already in your body (torso, arms, hands and fingers), you just have to learn to use it correctly. it's a matter of coordination, not strength.

you should find a competent teacher to help you!

[werq34ac]

What exactly do you mean by weak?  The revolutionary is considered one of Chopin's easy studies.  It's easy if you have the right technique.  It's hard if you use the wrong one.  If you are using the wrong one, then it won't matter how much strength you have or need.

If you could describe exactly what you mean by weak, we may be better able to help you.

That doesn't mean it is easy.. not that I find it particularly difficult, but doesn't mean other people don't.

i don't think very highly about these excercise sets, they just seem boring as hell and often don't have anything going for them musically. Also, when you're finished you have nothing to show for it. ("Hey look I can play these tedious excercises! They don't sound great but it sure was a lot of work. Wanna listen?")  Just play something by Bach, inventions, sinfonias, suites, partitas, (little) preludes, fugues, whatever, you can't go wrong with Bach. And also you can start with the chopin, just take it slowly and try to play everything correctly from the first bar. If you find it too hard, learn something else, as easy as that. You should always try to get a feel for a pieces' difficulty first hand imo.

EXAMPLE: I tried learning La campanella after playing around half a year maybe. I couldn't even read music and copied the notes from a youtube midi-file tutorial..Of course it turned out to be way way too hard. But I did take a lot of time with the first section of the huge jumps and after I dropped the piece, what I got out of that was a great rotation technique in my right hand, which I didn't realize as of lately, until my piano teacher pointed it out when I was playing the prelude from BWV 862 during the lesson. (short passage from measure 15 to 16, something Bach uses a lot) Nothing hard, but apparently I played it with a very nice technique, acquired when playing a piece that was and probably still is out of my league.
So really, what I wanna say is, go for it, but take things slowly and carefully and try to play everything right every time. And play Bach. More Bach. That counts for anyone reading this really, me included.

You sound really really condescending. The Chopin Etudes were revolutionary (pun intended) in that they were the first etudes that actually could function as concert pieces. These are not only a study of technique but study of musicality as well. I mean the Revolutionary Etude in itself is intense. Con fuoco and appasionata? That's not boring and tedious at all. Maybe it's your own damn fault they sound bad to you.

As for what you said about the Liszt, while technique is a big part of La Campanella, if you lack the bravado, then either do something about it or learn the bravado. Liszt Etudes are show pieces, intended to show off one's pianism, but you can't be boring as f ck when you do. There's a reason the ladies were all over Liszt.



As for the OP, strengthening is the wrong word to use. You can do finger pushups all day and it won't affect your pianistic abilities at all. It would probably worsen them in fact. What you need is dexterity and independence, not finger strength. Your fingers actually don't have any muscles, just tendons.

[mikeowski]

You sound really really condescending. The Chopin Etudes were revolutionary (pun intended) in that they were the first etudes that actually could function as concert pieces. These are not only a study of technique but study of musicality as well. I mean the Revolutionary Etude in itself is intense. Con fuoco and appasionata? That's not boring and tedious at all. Maybe it's your own damn fault they sound bad to you.

As for what you said about the Liszt, while technique is a big part of La Campanella, if you lack the bravado, then either do something about it or learn the bravado. Liszt Etudes are show pieces, intended to show off one's pianism, but you can't be boring as f ck when you do. There's a reason the ladies were all over Liszt.

Oh no no no I didn't mean the chopin etudes with that, I meant the link of the second poster, which contains excercises like that of hanon and czerny. Calling the chopin etudes mere excercises wouldn't come to my mind ever.

[werq34ac]

Oh no no no I didn't mean the chopin etudes with that, I meant the link of the second poster, which contains excercises like that of hanon and czerny. Calling the chopin etudes mere excercises wouldn't come to my mind ever.

My apologies for misunderstanding o.o I thought I deleted that 2nd paragraph.. there wasn't anything meaningful in it.